The proposed establishment of an Indian Army mountain strike corps in India’s eastern sector bordering China — which will for the first time give the Indian Army offensive capabilities vis-à-vis China — was cleared by the high-level Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) late on Wednesday evening, top sources confirmed.
This marks the clearing of the final stage of receiving government approval. The new mountain strike corps could involve raising of at least an additional 50,000 troops that will give the Indian Army the extra infantry needed for effective mountain warfare. India has recently already raised two new mountain divisions comprising a total of about 30,000 troops in the Eastern Sector. The CCS is headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Wednesday’s CCS meeting was also attended by the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Bikram Singh.
The new mountain strike corps could comprise at least three new divisions. The entire process of raising the new mountain strike corps could take about six years, sources said. Apart from the infantry, the new strike corps is also expected to have weaponry and equipment such as ultra-light howitzers suited for mountain warfare, Bofors 155 mm artillery guns and attack helicopters. The 290-km-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles is also expected to be part of the arsenal of the new strike corps.
After the recent scare caused by the Chinese military transgression in eastern Ladakh a few months ago, when the Chinese first established and then continued to maintain a tented post in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector for nearly three weeks, the Indian government has sent a strong signal that there would be no compromise with national security. The discussion by the CCS also comes just days after defence minister A.K. Antony’s visit to China.
The ministry of defence had forwarded the proposal to the CCS after receiving in-principle approval by the finance ministry.
It was initially estimated that the cost would be about `81,000 crore and that the new strike corps could be set up in four phases. The proposal was sent earlier on a previous occasion as well to the CCS, but the government had then wanted the Chiefs of Staff Committee to examine it in detail. The CoSC later approved the proposal and sent it back to the government.
The mountain strike corps will drastically boost troop levels in the Eastern Sector, which will help shed India’s traditionally defensive posture towards its giant eastern neighbour.